I’m sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t been here much. I’ve been working on a new website! While this blog will always have a special place in my heart, I realized that I have outgrown it. I decided to start fresh, with a new focus that I’m super excited about! I’m not deleting this blog right now, but I won’t be posting here anymore.

I hope you’ll all join me at my brand-new site, AshleeFit.com. I have so many things planned!

For now, it’s still under construction…But my first post is up, and I’d love it if you would take a look!

Thank you to my wonderful readers…This blog has been so much fun, and was the perfect learning experience. I hope to see you all soon at AshleeFit.com!

I don’t know about you guys, but the last month has been non-stop back to school photos on my Facebook and Instagram timelines. I actually got to be a part of it this year, because my sweet baby boy started preschool!

We had loads of fun shopping at Target for his school supplies. He felt like a ‘big kid’ picking out a backpack after he saw an older kid looking at them, too. “Mommy! I’m going to school like that kid!”

Ugh, slow down a bit. I can handle preschool, but I’m not ready to think about elementary school yet.

Check out my recent YouTube video for a look at what we picked out. Also, my hair is wild in this one.

How did your first day back go? Tell me all about it in the comments! Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I have lots of fun product reviews and a giveaway coming up soon!

I read something recently that shook me to my core. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you have already read the letter to Brock Turner. Written by his victim, it goes in to graphic detail of the assault and the lingering impact it had on this woman’s life.

I hadn’t finished the first paragraph before my entire body was covered in goosebumps. The letter left me nauseated and close to tears, both heartbroken for this poor woman and furious over the absolute failure of our justice system.

You can read this letter here, and I encourage you to do so…Because in between the heart wrenching details of this woman’s private suffering and the cold physical evidence of assault, there is a perfect example of why this continues to happen.

Brock Turner violated this woman in the worst way possible, and he was given nothing more than a slap on the wrist. He’ll be out of jail (Yes, jail. Not prison, jail.) long before his sentence is over, free to assault again. And he will…I’m almost sure of it.

Why?

Because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong.

I’m willing to bet that he’s had a privileged life. Treated as if he’s entitled to every little heart’s desire simply because, what? He’s a guy? An athlete? From a family that has money?

Oh, but he’s going to be an Olympic swimmer!

Oh, but he has such a bright future!

Oh, but he’s never been in trouble before!

Oh, but it wasn’t his fault that she drank so much.

…pardon me for a second…

Fuck that.

This is why the “boys will be boys” attitude is so dangerous. When we allow our sons to pick on little girls and claim it’s because they have a crush, we plant some nasty ideas into their minds about how women should be treated. When we see our boys acting out and shrug it off as just typical boy behavior, we teach them that they live in a world with no boundaries. When we value our sons over our daughters because they’ll carry the family name, we show them that they are above women. When we do nothing but hand over rewards while allowing bad behavior, we are saying, “there will be no negative consequences for your actions.”

His life was deeply altered. He can barely eat. His life won’t turn out the way he dreamed it would. He doesn’t deserve to be punished. He has to register as a sex offender. All for just 20 minutes of action. Seriously?

His life deserves to be deeply altered, by the maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Instead, he’ll probably be out in three months (you know, good behavior counts). He’ll still feel like he did nothing wrong, and now he’s justified by Judge Aaron Persky’s wildly lenient sentence. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a repeat offender to me.

We can’t let this continue to happen.

We have to stop sending girls home from school to change clothes because, oh dear, they may tempt our precious boys. Start telling boys that, yes, they can help themselves. That not only does no mean no, but only a clear and definite yes means yes. Hold boys accountable for their actions from day one.

How about empowering victims, giving them ways to safely report these crimes and then believing them? Stop attempting to lay blame on them by insinuating that wearing a certain outfit, drinking too much, or being a bit flirty meant that they were asking for it.

When someone is found guilty of the charges brought against him, make the punishment fit the crime. Because, news flash, your right to a bright future is revoked the second you hurt someone else’s chances at one.

Ok, not really. I think it’s 50 degrees outside today and we had frost warnings this morning.

Did I mention I live in Indiana? Sometimes we even have snow in May!

Enough about the weather, though. How about we get to something more fun, like my May Ipsy bag! This one is pretty awesome, and I can’t wait to actually try a couple of the products in there. You can see what I got in the video below. Spoiler alert: that lip treatment is delightful.

I feel like I should take a moment here to clarify that while I did, in fact, dance on a bar at Coyote Ugly, I remained fully clothed. It was loads of fun, but I probably wouldn’t do it again…I’m too much of an old lady to be dancing on anything more elevated than the, uh, floor.

I got a free shirt, though! And we all know I’m a sucker for a free shirt.

Do you have an Ipsy subscription? What did you get? I neeeed to know.

If you don’t yet have a subscription, click here to sign up. It’s 10.00 a month, and you’ll take a quiz to make sure your items are customized to your taste.

**Disclosure** This is not a sponsored post or video, I pay for my Ipsy subscription with my own money. The link above is my referral link, and I do get points if someone uses it to sign up.**

My child loves to watch Grav3YardGirl‘s Does This Thing Really Work? videos on YouTube. When he’s feeling sleepy or in need of a cuddle, he’ll climb into my lap and ask, “Mommy, can we watch a Bunny video?”

It took me a while to find them, but I tracked the bubble machine down on Amazon and even found some refill kits.

I was skeptical, even after watching Bunny’s review…But this thing is actually pretty great! We spent an hour or so blowing cherry bubbles all over the back yard, and I managed to catch a few…they actually DO taste just like cherry! O’s strategy was to stick his face right in front of the machine, and he caught a lot of bubbles, but he didn’t like getting the bubble solution all over his face.

You get two packets of bubble solution with the machine (cherry and grape), and refills are available in packs of three flavors. The packet of cherry lasted a lot longer than I thought it would, and we even got a little more mileage out of it by pouring a little water in at the end.

I’m not sure if you’re supposed to do that. Maybe don’t be like me.

The machine takes 4 AA batteries and you’ll need a little screwdriver to get the back panel off. I picked up an eyeglass repair kit that’s super handy for these things.

I love this thing. As long as it holds up, I can see it providing hours of summer fun for my boy. In fact, I may not have to make a dessert for the rest of the summer. Dinner’s over? Go outside and play with your bubble machine!

Just don’t drink the bubble solution…I’m pretty sure it says specifically not to on the box.